Tuesday, November 22, 2011

just another acrylic speed painting, I am pretty sure at this point I hate acrylics. Waiting for the layers to dry is mind numbing and it takes me twice as long to get something I want then it does in oils. I will keep trying but , the whole time I am painting with acrylic's I am thinking to myself ' why am I not doing this in oils ? '

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Thursday, November 17, 2011

So now with MONOCYTE #2 done, I have a bit more time between other work to do speed paintings in the morning again. This is my starting point ( sketch ) for working on the elite guard of the Antedeluvian called the Seraphim.

I am floored ! Cant believe I actually got in. Must have been a low number of entries this year or something, but whatever the reason. Thank you so much ! For those of you that do not know what Spectrum is, Spectrum is an annual art book, kinda the best and brightest ( kinda strange that they are putting me in there ) of the art-world with Comics, fantasy art etc.

Looks like I have two more books I will be doing with IDW aside from my creator own ( more on that later ) , and WHOA I wish I could say more on this, both books sounds amazing and I can not wait to tell everyone about them. One of them is with a very very very special writer ! Also working on a new cover today for one of IDW's best selling books, but again I cant say anything more, but keep your eye out for it.

Moving into a new studio !!! Yes ! This storefront building I have been in since last July I think has run it's course , and my new studio will be with in a quick walk from our house... NO MORE TRAIN TO THE STUDIO !!!! Just get up and take a short walk and boom I am working. Also will be able to go home to see the boy and wife for lunch a lot more which is something I am extremely excited about. Trust me I will inundate the webs with pics of the new place.

And ( as most of you know ) I have been given the green light to be able to publish a creator owned book with IDW, which should be out OCT this year, co-written by one of the best people I know Kasra Ghanbari. I am walking on the moon with this, everyone at IDW has been amazing with this so far, can not wait to release more info on this, I am in love with the story we have made and cant not wait to start working on the pages. We are currently working on a website which will be how we announce everything. We have some amazing news about some of my heros in comics doing variant covers as well as some internal story pages, writers and artist this list will amaze you trust me, it does every-time I think about it..

Here is a teaser , a conceptual sketch from the book for one of the characters.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

So I am sitting here looking at a blank page, trying to figure out how to summarize this weekend at C2E2. It would be impossible to articulate the amazing gratitude I feel toward so many people I met and spoke with this week. It was the first time I truly felt like a comic artist. It was an amazing weekend.

Would like thank everyone that came to my booth this weekend showing so much amazing support to what me and my friends are doing.

The weekend start off on friday morning before I had my booth even set up, getting to meet the guy I have working for, for the last two years Ted Adams of IDW. I honestly could sit here and write a book about how great it was to meet him and talk with him, everything you hear about him being a nice guy are all under-exaggerated, he is unbelievably nice !

Then there are the whole entire Comics Pipeline family, and again I could write a book about this as well Marcus, Kris, Tony, Talent, Dirk , Jay, Tyler, little pete, Janna, Seth the list go's on and on, just outstanding talented people from every angle. No one had any big ego's, it was all amazing fun.

But then there is Ben.... yeah that Templesmith guy and the amazing Molly Mclsaac... what can I say here. Just outstanding people. It strange to meet someone that you have really loved their artwork so much for so long, and to top it all off they are such an incredible person. I think we all had dinner 3 times this weekend ? Or something like that ? The best was Sat night where it was me , my amazing wife , Molly, Ben , Karsa and Kelly went to Chalkboard ( thank you Gill ) and had a fantastic time, just basically talking art the whole time, oil paint, watercolor, line art, and .... well projects... ( more on that later ) And whoa that Molly ! That girl can talk to to death with amazing authority on history , photography , painting, writing etc etc not that that is surprising , it was just great to be around. Again I could write a book on this. What an amazing time !

I also had the pleasure of speaking with Scott Allie this weekend when he walked over to my booth, another remarkably nice guy. Was Great fun talking with him. Had a GREAT talk with Ben McCool who has written some AMAZING books, another amazing person. Got an interview with MTV geek , which there is a story there... not sure if I can tell it.... Just an over all overwhelming weekend. Best Con yet.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

agnosco118x24 oil on Linen.

This is a commissioned portrait I did using Jessie-Lynne as the model. The client had some pretty great but specific ideas about the painting, I really hope this meets them. Again, sorry for the bad photo will post a better scan when the paint dries.

Also with this painting I am using a medium called " Venetian Medium" from Natural Pigments, it is based off of research that 16th century Venetian painters added leaded powered glass to their paint, and I have to say I really love working with it. The pain of using it, is that you have to wear gloves the whole time as if it gets on your skin you have ground glass and lead to deal with. But when it dries is looks amazing from the light refraction, well worth the trouble. Only real problem that I have with it so far is that it dies and gets tacky a little too fast.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

So I have been painting and drawing like crazy lately but most of what I have been working on is a bit top secret so I have not been able to post any of the images from the projects, hopefully soon.

Here is a bad image taken with my phone of a 11x14 oil on canvas I just did a day or two ago, this image is a small part of the ideas behind my creator own book being published by IDW this year. I will post a better image of it on comics pipeline when the oil paint dries.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Looks like this might be the cover for the trade paper back for Silent Hill : Past Life.I had a lot of ideas about what I wanted to do with the cover for the trade, I kinda want to do a montage of a lot of the characters from the story, but every mock up I came up with seem to take away from the story line it self, they all seemed thin somehow, it just did not seem to mix or manifest the story well. So I kinda torn it all down and started over, this is what I ended up with.The story is really about Jeb, and he never really got his due on a cover, so I set Jeb in front of a "Memento Mori", and to me it simplified and showed the story , it just locked in for me.

wiki : Memento mori is a Latin phrase translated as "Remember you must die". It names a genre of artistic creations that vary widely from one another, but which all share the same purpose: to remind people of their own mortality and the punishment they will receive if they transgress the rules of their religion.The phrase has a tradition in art that dates back to antiquity.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

So here is a better image of the batman commission, all scanned and stuff.2-x24 oil on panel.

Been working on the new pages for the silent hill trade paper back all day, got the new cover scanned and edited, going to do a bit more scanning and then it is back to working on the silent hill pages, till I can not stay awake anymore. ( I love my life )

Monday, February 14, 2011

Again I have not really been using this thing, and I think I will start up again, I have mainly been using my profile on DeviantArt, and I have a new thing going on over at comics pipeline, which should go live today. Will be post lots of exclusive sketches and pictures of paintings in process etc.But I really miss my blog here... really want to start remembering to post things here again.... lets see if it sticks.

http://www.comicspipeline.com

Below is a comission I have been working on, it is long from done, but I like where it is going anyway.Vascular #2, oil on panel, 24x48.

About Me

Born 1976 in Mississippi. Lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. Matthews has had a lifelong interest in the relationship between symbols, signs and images and that part of ourselves we most commonly refer to as "unconscious".
"My interest in painting stems from my investigation into the relationship between images and their relevant use within the psyche. Many of the mythological, religious, alchemical, and historical icons, symbolic figures and shapes stimulate, if not summon, internal functions."